Hire a Personal Trainer to Get Your Fitness Program Started Right

With the new year comes your New Years resolution to get healthier and more fit. You are ready to start on the road to improving your health and fitness but you don't know exactly how to begin. I suggest you hire a personal trainer to get your fitness program started right.

While you can find good health and fitness information in publications, and online you will also come across some bad information that is good for not you.  One of the major benefits of investing in a personal trainer is that he or she can assess your physical capabilities and design a fitness program that gets the best results for you with very little chance of injury.. Also, they can educate you on healthy eating habits which is one of the biggest parts of seeing optimal results from your fitness program.

When hiring a personal trainer make sure they are certified by an organization that is accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), have liability insurance, and have experience in the field.  Check with some of the trainer's clients both present and past to get their experiences working them.

Below is a list of the top 10 best personal trainer certifications as in Livestrong.com, written by JEREMY HOEFS. Please click here to see the complete post

Healthy Lifestyle Motivation Year-Round

This is the time of the year when most people give-up on accomplishing their New Year's resolutions.  Here's a great post written by Paige Johnson of Learnfit.org with some very helpful hints to help you create and keep healthy lifestyle habits year-round.

Healthy Lifestyle Motivation Year-Round

The holidays may be over, but they might have left you with a few unhealthy habits that you have no intention of keeping. With this new year now well underway, you are ready to buckle down and make your healthy lifestyle decision permanent. Try as you may, however, your commitment to the lifestyle transition has not lasted very long. Again and again, you find yourself admitting that giving up your bad habits is a lot harder than maintaining them.

Yet deep down you are aware of the damage these unhealthy habits are doing to your body. As you continue to ignore the effects of your unhealthy choices, the dire repercussions loom. Although making healthy lifestyle changes only when a doctor advises you to isn’t ideal, you may simply not know where to start or how to properly motivate yourself to get going if you don’t see one.

Regardless, you have decided to make this the year you start your everlasting healthy lifestyle. Now what?

In order to really commit to a healthy lifestyle, you may need to make things fun, or at least a little enjoyable! That may be hard at first due to the necessary alterations your daily routine will have to take, but it is possible. Start with small, incremental changes that you feel comfortable with. Celebrate these little upgrades by remembering them at the end of each day. As these days collectively turn into a month, your tiny improvements will gradually flow into a larger accomplishment right under your nose.

Photo credit: Pixabay

Success sneaking up on you

By the time you have reached the one-month milestone, you may notice that you feel lighter, healthier and happier. If you do not for some reason, try replacing your preferred less-than-healthy beverage — like soda or sweetened tea — with water. The human body is comprised of mostly water and needs a couple of liters each day to stay properly hydrated. Without this vital liquid, your energy levels and mental alertness may severely suffer, inhibiting you from staying motivated. Another key area that you may want to examine is your sleeping habits. Getting a good night's rest will raise your mental and physical energy to a level that may help you achieve your healthy lifestyle quickly.

Maintain a slow, but steady progress

Another great motivator that may help you maintain progress toward your healthy lifestyle goal is participating in a fun, physical activity, whether at home, the gym, or outside. Finding this activity or hobby that you want to participate in more than once may be challenging, but it is a great way to stay engaged in your goal regardless of whether you fancy bull riding, ballet dancing or jogging. If you are having fun and moving around, keep doing it! Exercise that elevates your heart rate has a lot of great benefits for your body and brain. The mood-enhancing effects of exercise alone can aid your ability to push yourself further than ever before. If you are unable to find the right hobby immediately, try not to give up. Walking for a half an hour a day may not be your favorite exercise, but it will suffice while you take your time finding your new go-to activity.

Being aware of what is consumed

Overindulging in any one thing, even if it is healthy, can be a bad thing, which is why it is beneficial for everyone to be mindful of what goes into their bodies. Despite this, at the end of the day, many of us are guilty of eating dinner mindlessly as we watch TV or play on our phones. However, with practice, preparation, and planning, overcoming this challenging habit can be fun! Try making each meal a succulent and flavorful delight that will easily draw all of your focus in, and then savor each bite by chewing your food slowly, taking note of each delicate flavor.

Making this year the one you turn your life around can be achieved with the right motivation. If you believe that feeling healthier quickly is the boost you need to stay dedicated to your healthy lifestyle goal, try adding more water to your diet or adjusting the amount of sleep you are getting each night. Encourage others to join you by asking them to take part in a fun activity or hobby that requires a lot of movement. These adjustments may be the motivational solutions you need to make your healthy lifestyle last a lifetime.

Three Keys to Keeping Your New Year's Resolutions.

I've been in the health and fitness industry for over 23 years and I've seen many people get excited about their New Year's Resolutions only to be disappointed a few months later.  Here are three keys to successfully keeping your New Years Resolutions.

Set Realistic Goals.  I've seen people with good intentions set unrealistic goals, and when they don't achieve them, they become disheartened and give-up.  If you know you can only make it to the gym three days a week, don't set yourself up for failure by making a resolution to go five day a week.  Consistency in achieving your goal of working out three days per week makes for positive reinforcement that you can keep your New Year's Resolutions.

The same goes for weight loss.  Most likely you didn't go to bed with a 32 inch waist, and wake-up the next morning with a 40 inch waist.  You gradually gained the weight over a long period of time, and it's unrealistic to think that you're going to lose all that weight in a short period of time, and if you do, it's probably unhealthy in the long-run.  A realistic weight loss goal, if that's your resolution is about one pound of weight per week.

Stay The Course When Results Slow. As I previously mentioned, you found yourself in the kind of shape you are now gradually, and consequently it will take some time to reach your goals.  Even if you start to see results quickly, you can be assured your progress will slow down at some point.  This is when you have to focus on your goals and stay the course.  Your body has internal set-points that it has to re-adjust as you start to reach your goals, especially as you lose weight.  I've found that losing weight follows a stair step process; you lose some weight, then you hit a plateau before you start to lose weight again.

Balanced Diet, Strength Training, and Aerobic Exercise.  These three activities are the foundation for getting and staying healthy and fit.  A balanced diet is over 75 percent of the battle of losing weight and getting fit.  No amount of exercise can compensate for a poor diet.  Strength training is crucial to keeping your muscles healthy and strong.  I recommend 2 to 3 strength training sessions each week in which you work all your major muscle groups.  Aerobic exercise keeps your heart and lungs strong, and helps in burning body fat.  I recommend 5 to 6 days of 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise each week.  Combine these three activities consistently and you will see great long-term results which will motivate you to keep your New Year's Resolutions.

Consistency Is Key To Keeping Your New Year's Resolutions

Image by Hryck. via FlickrWe are in the midst of the holiday season, and soon you'll start to think about your New Year's resolutions. Losing weight, and getting in-shape are always two of the top resolutions people make each year. There will be a slew of advertisements on the best fitness plans and diets promising to get you in "tip top shape" in the shortest amount of time.

My advice is not to get hooked by the quick results schemes. Losing weight and maintaining your weight loss, and improving your fitness level is not a short-term goal, it's a long-term process. Consistency in your exercise program, and balance and moderation in your diet are the keys to accomplishing your New Year's resolutions.

In my 17 years of experience as a personal trainer I have never seen any "8 week fitness or weight loss program" work for very long. The reason these quick fixes don't work is because they are impossible to adhere to for an extended period of time. Sooner or later, you will get tired of the strict diet, and the overly intense exercise program, and return to your old habits.

Nothing beats consistency in your exercise program, and balance and moderation in your diet for long-term improvements in your fitness level. I suggest you set some realistic health and fitness goals that you can easily incorporate into your lifestyle.

For example, it's better to set a goal to workout 3 times each week and stick to it, than to set a goal of 5 workouts each week and seldom get them all in. Following the same logic, its better to have a goal to lose 4 lbs a month and achieve it, than to set a goal to lose 10 lbs per month and never attain it.

It's easier to incorporate small changes in your life, and stick with them, than it is to try to make changes that require a heroic effort. Losing weight, and improving your fitness level is not a sprint, it's a marathon. So, start with goals that are easy to accomplish, and you are well on your way to achieving your New Year's resolutions.